Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, on Friday announced that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had earned Rs 178 crore more than its income in the last year despite providing 20,000 litres of free water to households in the capital.

Addressing a function in Delhi to launch DJB’s ‘m-Sewa’ app for online water bill generation and payment, Kejriwal said, “When we had announced the free water scheme, the critics said DJB finances will drown. But the DJB earned Rs 178 crore in 2015-16 which is more than its last year revenue.”

“Everyone kept saying that providing 20,000 litres of free water will destroy DJB, but now it seems that these big economists will need to revise their theories to explain this increase in revenue,” Kejriwal was quoted by PTI.

Asserting that the reservation expressed over wastage of water has also been proved wrong, the Chief Minister said, “Data shows that people have been saving water due to the scheme as they have restricted their usage to ensure they do not have pay much.”

Attributing the increase in DJB’s revenue to the AAP government’s faith in people, he said, “We believed in Delhi’s public which has led to this miracle of increased revenue along with saved water.”

“The AAP government’s mantra is empowering the people,” he said while also citing the success of Odd-Even scheme.

Kejriwal said his government was trying to provide water to areas which had poor supply as well as slums and other areas inhabited by poor in the next two years.